Sleep or Die
by The Angry Lioness
Summary: Entry for Dice and Bishops. News about a death brings Arthur back to a haunting memories. Soon he is being abused with nightmares to the point where he can't take it. Will Ariadne find a way to save her boyfriend?
1. Night One

"And who are you?" Arthur was upstairs in his apartment bedroom when he heard Ariadne answer the door for someone.

"I'm a relative of your boyfriends." The voice was familiar and not in the good way. The man's old French accent tickled his spine and zapped his heart.

"Funny, he's never mentioned you." Said Ariadne suspiciously. "What's your name?"

"I'm his Uncle Andre."

"He's never talked about you." Ariadne's tone was defensive as he taught her to be at all times.

"He would never forget me."

"Arthur!" Ariadne called for her boyfriend. Arthur was on full alert after he heard her scream.

"He's mine you bitch!" the man yelled. Arthur was in the living room in one second. Ariadne was on the floor, watched helplessly as she bled to death on the carpet. Her blood made the carpet look like a whole bottle on wine was spilled. Ariadnes hands were at her chest as blood started coming out of her mouth as well.

Arthur looked up at the man who just stabbed her. He was a tall, bald Frenchman with oversized glasses and a thin mustache. His grey eyes looked over at Arthur.

"I missed you Artie."

His eyes opened to find himself in bed. Ariadne was sound asleep beside him.

This was rather odd; he was long past the reoccurring nightmares. Maybe it had to do with the recent death in the family.

That day before Ariadne returned home from work, he got a call from his older brother Lance. Their Uncle Andre passed away that day from stomach cancer. He hadn't told Ariadne yet. Thinking back, he never liked Uncle Andre. Thoughts about him made Arthur uncomfortable and queasy. Arthur was only a little relieved but more haunted by the news. What kind of excuse would he make to skip the funeral?

Normally when someone died, Arthur would be respectful and show up to their funeral. Uncle Andre didn't disserve his mourning. Not after what he did. For the rest of the night, Arthur lay beside his girlfriend looking up at the ceiling fan like it was the moon.

When the sun rose, Ariadne was up early and changed into her work clothes. After graduating, she got a job at French Architectural Construction and Demolition, the biggest architecture company in France. So far, she barely got to do any designing. Normally, it was her job to tell sad clients that their homes were being torn down.

What was unusual about the morning was that Arthur wasn't up before, making her breakfast. Every day, she would wake to the smell of eggs, toast, and bacon to see Arthur in his apron, preparing her breakfast like a professional. Coffee would always be ready by the time she got downstairs. Ariadne was a little shocked, like a teen that didn't get a basket on Easter, to not even see a plate with a note.

She went upstairs to see Arthur still in bed. A little concerned, she came to his side and shook him.

"Arthur… I'm going to work now." He looked exhausted to her. Ariadne kissed him on the side of his forehead and figured she'd go out for breakfast that day before work.

Arthur got up at noon while she was three hours into her shift. He looked over at the empty unmade side of the bed. It wasn't always like this.

A year after the inception job, Cobb called Arthur and told him some news he never imagined to hear. He explained that Cobol Engineering, despite all their power, had been destroyed. Saito's men attacked the bases, captured the workers and used the PASIV to erase their memories of the company. Cobol was no more, or at least Cobb was convinced.

Arthur still kept his fake name, Rodger Kingsley, and kept on pretending to be a musician in Paris. When he wasn't doing his point man job, he was playing piano at a club. Everyone in Paris only knew him by that name.

While he was there, he bumped into Ariadne at the least expected place. He was walking to his car after the club closed one night and saw her walking down the street. She asked him what he was doing in the city and he explained that he lived there. They were alone, so he offered her a ride to her apartment. During the drive, he explained the situation with Cobol and Ariadne said Cobb told her also.

_"So I guess you're allowed to date and do all that stuff again?" she assumed as they pulled up in front of her building._

_"In a ways... yes it's a lot safer now to be seen with you."_

_"In that case, why don't you call me?"_

Her confidence turned him on and they've been dating ever since. Six months later, she moved out of her old crammed apartment and settled into his first-class luxury cave. For a while, Arthur was considering marrying her. For one, she wasn't the type of girl who dressed provocatively to get his attention or lie about her background. His family (well, most of his family) loved her, and he believed she would be a perfect mother. He could imagine them one day with a baby boy or girl.

But for now, Arthur didn't know one hundred percent that she was the one. He had to wait a little longer to see.

Arthur got out of bed feeling like a lazy bum. He had nowhere important to go until night when the club was open. All day, he read the newspaper and lifted weights. By six, Ariadne was home. Arthur was already dressed for the club as she went upstairs.

"You have derby tonight?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. Just practice." she told him as she was taking off her business clothes to change into a shirt and leggings.

"I'm taking you." he told her. Ariadne came out of the bedroom and stood by the edge of the stairs, looking down at him.

"You wanna drive me across the city to practice?"

"I have plenty of time. Besides, it makes up for this morning."

Ariadne smiled at his sincerity. "You are way too modest sometimes."

"It's the least I can do."


	2. Night Two

Ariadne came downstairs and pulled her skate bag out of the coat closet. She had been playing roller derby with the Paris Roller Dames since the inception ended. The architect wanted to get her mind off of it and to do that, she had to be busy. Aside from school and friends, she was at an arena where she would push down other girls on roller skates. After she graduated and got a job with FACD, she was still rolling on a tuxedo themed team.

No one would think that Arthur would approve of it. Secretly, he was glad that Ariadne was an athlete. For one, it taught her how to be stronger and more defensive. Derby was the only sport where the athletes didn't wear their real names on their jerseys; they had derby names. Every derby name was different.

Ariadne was more known as Eiffel Spider. Sometimes her teammates called her 'Spidey' and the announcer would say, 'My spidey senses are tingling Miss Spider'. Her black helmet had a spider web drawn on it in silver and her fans wore shirts that said, "Every rollergirl needs venom."

The real reason why Arthur wanted to take her was because of the nightmare. He didn't want anything happening to her as if the dream was a warning of misfortune to come.

"How was work?" he asked to break the quiet drive.

"Work was fine." she answered. "One of the designers retired and his spot is open. It's either going to be me or three other men who've worked there longer."

"Well it makes the job at least a little more exciting." Arthur commented. "When do you find out?"

"Tomorrow." she said nervously. "I'll call you when it happens."

Arthur put his left hand on her lap. "Your still a great architect no matter what happens. Those guys can't make Penrose steps."

Ariadne smirked. "That's true. One of them can't even draw by hand. He uses the computer for everything." Arthur shook his head in response. There was a moment of silence as Arthur turned down a road he wasn't familiar with. On the path to the arena, Ariadne knew the journey would be nerve wrecking to some. There were homeless people, prostitutes and others who looked just plain scary. When Arthur stopped at a light, they heard a tap on the window.

Right away, Ariadne was in defense mode. A black haired prostitute with barely any clothes on was trying to offer her boyfriend a wild time. Arthur kept the window up knowing that Ariadne wasn't so amused. Obviously, the hooker didn't see Ariadne before. The moment the light turned green, Arthur was driving as fast as he could.

"Do you get male prostitutes at your friends car window?" he asked her.

"Sometimes but we always tell them the same thing." Ariadne crossed her arms. "You know I would never do something and not tell you."

Arthur sighed. They were getting close to the arena so he had to speak up fast. "Ariadne, I have something to tell you."

"Yeah?" Ariadne sensed the discomfort in his tone. Arthur took a deep breath.

"There's been a death in the family."

"Oh no." Ariadne loved Arthurs family. Grandpa Lemon was the strangest but funniest man she's ever met, Lance and Gwen were cool people and Arthurs father was super nice. "Who died?"

"My Uncle Andre."

"You never told me about him. How come I didn't meet him when I visited your family?"

"Because..." he couldn't get the words out. "I'll have to tell you later. We're not going to his funeral."

"Won't that upset your parents?"

"I'll let them get upset." he pulled over by the edge of the arena. Ariadne didn't get out immediately but instead looked him up and down.

"When we first started dating, you said you'd tell me everything if I told you everything... I spilled out to you the past life I wish I never had! And now..." Ariadne shook her head. "I'll see you at home."

"I'm picking you up." he said. "Call me when practice is over!" Ariadne slung her skate bag strap over her shoulder. He could see how angry she was by the way she slammed the door. "I love you!"

Ariadne regretted ignoring him as she headed for the doors. "I love you more." She muttered to herself.

The club Arthur played piano at was one of those places where you had to be famous or rich to get into. They served caviar, snails and lobster with ancient French wine. The place was always quiet with people chatting amongst their tablemates. A lot of marriage proposals were made there. Arthur entered the club just in time and took his place on the piano stool. He spent a half hour playing classical music and singing on occasion.

Most nights, he would take requests and get extra tips. The one thing he would never do while playing piano was sing alongside another, especially a woman. He would rather sing with his off-key girlfriend. As he poked the keys into romantic tunes, he tried to think of her. Thinking about Uncle Andre wouldn't help him relax. Thinking of Ariadne wearing one of his bowties as she knocked down other women made him chuckle and put him at ease.

That night, time seemed to strike very slowly. At nine-forty five, he got the call from Ariadne saying practice was over. When he pulled over and she got in, he could tell she was bruised all over.

"And you do this for fun?" he commented.

"We all take risks to do the things we love." she pointed out to him. "Listen, about the car ride here..."

"I understand you're angry," he said after she ran out of words. "I should have told you everything."

"It's not that. I'm sorry for getting mad at you and then just leaving you in the dust. It was stupid, ok?" she said. "You don't have to tell me anything until your ready."

Arthur placed his hand on her lap as he drove off. "I'm not letting personal feelings get in the way of us. So how was practice?"

Back at the apartment, Ariadne was in bed reading a French mystery novel. Arthur just came out of the bathroom and joined her. Bedtime was the only time his hair was messy and his shirt was off.

"Have you been getting nightmares after you found out your dad died?" he asked. Ariadne marked the page on the book where she was and put it down.

"No." she answered suspiciously. "Are you getting nightmares?"

"Well, I had one last night actually." he mentioned. "That's why I didn't get up to make your breakfast. I couldn't sleep last night."

"Should I be worried?"

"Of course not." Arthur kissed the top of her head. "But thanks for looking out for me."

"Arthur... was it about your uncle?"

Arthur sighed and gave in willingly. "Yes, it was. But that's past us." Ariadne lowered her eyebrows in skepticism.

"Have I ever told you that you're a terrible liar? You might want to call Eames for lessons." Ariadne's head leaned on his bare chest like it often did. To her, it was better than a pillow. Her boyfriend sighed. "We had some bad times," he admitted. "I never liked him too much."

"Why not?" she could see in his eyes there was a secret. A secret he would keep to himself.

"I'll tell you tomorrow."

Ariadne groaned in slight frustration. "Alright. Well, goodnight." She clicked off the lamp at her bedside and closed her eyes.

"Wake up Sleepy Head."

Arthur's narrow eyes looked up. The teakettle in the back was screaming to be cooled down. He looked around to see he was lying on a couch in a small cabin. "How did I end up here?"

"You were knocked out cold in the woods," said the masculine voice. "You got bitten by some animal in the ankle."

Arthur looked down at his bare foot and saw the revolting bite marks.

"You were yelling out for some woman. Your girlfriend I assume." Uncle Andre came into sight. He was in his jeans and button down shirt just as Arthur remembered.

"Where is she?" He demanded. "What happened?"

"I assumed you two split and couldn't find each other. She'll turn up soon I bet. Now I'm more concerned about that foot."

Arthur sat up and pulled his leg back in self-defense. "It doesn't hurt. It's fine."

"Your foot looks like your Grandpa Lemons meatloaf." Andre commented. "If I don't treat it soon you might lose it."

Arthur brought out his die and rolled it on the coffee table. The numbers were different both times. In a way this relieved him, but he could feel deep in his gut a powerful fear.

**BANG BANG**

"What is that?" Arthur listened to the sound coming from underground.

"Just rats I bet." Andre assured, soaking up a washcloth. "So tell me about your girlfriend Ariadne."

"I never told you her name." Arthur was now stirring. "What did you do to her?"

"Now now don't get in a fit Artie! I heard you yelling her name."

"Bullshit!" Arthur snapped. He stood up and limped away to investigate. When he opened the first door, the stairs immediately gave away the answer. The muffled screams made him want to kill Andre, even if he and Ariadne were projections. Ignoring the pain in his foot (he felt worse when Mal shot him), he proceeded down the hall, pulling the chains over him to light the way. The door on the left led him to the red X.

Ariadne was hanging from the ceiling by her wrists. A white rag prevented her from crying loud enough. What made his anger truly rise was the number of cuts and bruises she had. They were nothing like the one's she had in roller derby. One eye was black, her nose was broken, the side of her forehead was bleeding and the ropes around her wrists were tied so tight they were cutting her skin. Her jeans and T-shirt were all ripped up and stained red. Arthur raced over to her and pulled the gag out. It was like setting off an intruder alarm as she continued to howl in pain.

"He's never going to stop!" She cried. "He's going to haunt you forever! Until you die in reality, he'll torture you every night! Every time you go to sleep!"

'She's just a projection!' he kept telling himself. 'Just kill yourself!' Arthur shook his head in disbelief. She was a projection and this was a nightmare. None of the things she said could be true!

"Just stay awake forever. Never sleep again." After that, her head dropped. The rest of her body went numb.


	3. Night Three

A small bladder was a serious problem for Ariadne who had to get up at one in the morning to go. When she came out, she saw Arthur's side of the bed was empty but already made. Ariadne slipped on her monkey slippers and fuzzy bathrobe to go look for him.

"I'm gonna need more coffee." She muttered to herself, feeling like a Frankenstein monster the way she was walking. The first place she looked was the roof. In their apartment, there was a sliding window that led to a spacious 'yard' six stories up. They had a view of the whole city to admire.

The singing of sirens and honking horns woke her up a little more as she went to the patio. Arthur was sitting in the swinging porch.

"It's one in the morning." She took a seat next to him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep." He said simply.

"Another nightmare?" Ariadne was really starting to worry.

"It's just a dream." He excused himself.

"I want you to tell me everything you remember." She was now in therapist mode as her ability to find problems came in as strong as her derby mode. Arthur was silent for several moments. "I'm not going to comment or anything. Please," Her hand cupped his shoulder. "I can help you."

"You can't help me," He growled. "You're far less experienced than me."

"That's true," She admitted. "But if it wasn't for me playing therapist on Cobb, he would have never seen his children again. I did an inception on my first assignment when I wasn't supposed to and you only did an extraction. I've been to Limbo. You've only gone two levels deep. Yes I'm an amateur, but a damn good one at that. Don't you get it?" Ariadne shook her head. "I love you Arthur. I want you to be happy again."

"Just promise me you won't intrude into my nightmares. I can't let you see what's happening. It's torture and it feels worse than getting shot!"

"I might have to," she told him. "I don't care if you get mad at me."

Arthur bowed his head down like a depressed dog. Ariadne could see an invisible rain cloud hovering over him. "I'll tell you what happened." His girlfriend sat back like a moviegoer, allowing him to proceed. "I was in a cottage with Uncle Andre. He said I was running around the woods looking for you and that I got bitten by an animal. He said your name and I got angry and accused him of kidnapping you." Arthur was telling the story like the narrator of a ghost story. "I went down to the basement and found you tied up and gagged and you had cuts and bruises all over and you were crying..." He took a deep breath. "You told me he would never stop tormenting me until I died."

Ariadne blinked as if she was shaken. At that moment, she could feel something worse emerging. He literally remembered the whole dream, which was always impossible.

"Besides the death of your uncle, what else could be causing all these nightmares?" She questioned.

Arthur nodded his head. "Nightmare Syndrome. It's rare but it happens only to people who go inside other's dreams."

"Is there a way to treat it?"

"You have to fight it," He said. "Confront it yourself and conquer it."

To her, it didn't seem so hard. But in Arthur's business, what sounds super easy really isn't.

"Why can't you do it?" She asked. "What has he done to you to make you so scared?"

The Architect was then seeing a rare sight. Tears were coming out but it was Arthur's eyes instead of hers.

"He molested me." His throat was clogged up as he began to bawl. "Every time I was left alone with him, he molested me!" Arthurs face went into her chest. The heart underneath was moving at the speed of light as she put her arms around him. How could God be so cruel to let a pedophile hurt him, of all children? This was his uncle too! Arthur's been molested by him for years and he never had the courage to cry for help. Not until now.

"I thought my teen-hood was screwed up." She whispered, kissing the top of his head. "I'm sorry you had to go through that... I'm just shocked that nobody found out."

"Even Lance couldn't get the hint."

"You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to call Miles in the morning and ask him how to approach this. In the meantime, you just try to stay awake."

Arthur didn't respond. He continued to cry on her until the sun arrived.

In the morning, Arthur decided to make breakfast for Ariadne as usual. The amount of attention required to make an omelet would help him stay awake a little. Ariadne came downstairs in her business clothes and purse, ready to go.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she poured him more coffee.

"Violated." He grumbled after being reminded the night before of his dark past.

"I'm sorry." That was all she could think to say. "Today, we'll get this handled."

"You don't even know the code to the safe with the PASIV in it." he referred to the PASIV in his study that was locked up in the bookshelf.

"Well we're gonna need it." She pointed out.

Arthur sighed. "Ariadne, I think it's a bad idea."

"It's a risk worth taking." She reminded him. "So I'm calling Miles during my lunch hour and getting the info we need. How many cups of coffee did you drink so far?"

"Just three." Arthur turned off the stove when the two omelets were finished to perfection.

"If that doesn't work, try the computer. I hear they stall melatonin for a bit." She finished the omelet and headed out the door for work.

Arthur was once again alone in his apartment until one. At one fifteen, he went to a small office building to teach hopefuls how to sing. Today, Claudia Grey had a lesson with him. He dreaded this as her voice could kill a bird. She wanted to be an opera singer but she was in no way cut out for the job. After those painful two hours, Arthur went back home for peace and quiet.

Ariadne still wasn't back. It was three-thirty and she was usually home by six. Sitting in his study, he was still thinking over about the confrontation. Was it too dangerous to fight? 'These nightmares are like a cancerous tumor,' he convinced himself. 'If I ignore it, it will only get bigger. Soon, it will never be tamable.'

Spinning backwards in his chair, he typed the password into the vault. 'I might deny doing this.' Arthur brought out the PASIV and inspected it as he waited for the therapist to get home.

"Arthur, he told me what to do." Said Ariadne as she was coming through the door. Despite getting the promotion she desperately wanted, concern took over excitement. "You ready?"

She was surprised to see him already on the couch. The PASIV was sitting on the coffee table, already open.

"Your right Ariadne." He said. "If I don't fight this, I could die. I can't do that to you."

Ariadne dropped her purse as diamond-like tears came out her eyes.

"A life without you is like a night with no stars." She confessed in an undertone. "I'm happy that you realize that."

The moment she sat next to him, her boyfriend set his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "I'm not leaving you." He pulled out two tubes from the PASIV and gave one to her. "I want to set a few precautions."

"Of course." She listened.

"When we're down there but not together, I want you to try and find me. The dream space shouldn't be so big or complicated. Also, we might end up somewhere I've been before in reality. Double check to see if you have your totem."

Ariadne shoved her hand in her pocket to produce her bronze bishop.

"And one more thing; remember not to change anything while we're there or my uncle will most likely kill you before the job is done."

"I learned that the hard way." She told him.

"Then let's get this done."

Arthur pressed the squishy button in the center. Ariadne curled up against him. His non-pricked arm was around her waist. In seconds, they were knocked out like sleeping lions.

He was certainly right about reality being in the dream. Ariadne got off the sidewalk to see a nice house in the French countryside. It didn't look like a pedophiles house at all. Looking around, she saw she was alone. Crossing the street, she went to search for her mate.

The door was unlocked and she didn't stall herself. Quickly, she walked in and opened her ears. "Arthur?"

The interior of the house was like a ghost town. When no one responded, she went back outside.

Meanwhile, Arthur was in the backyard. It was only a spacious lawn with nothing over it: just as he remembered it. His hand was clenched tightly around his die. "Ariadne, where are you?"

She heard him from the front yard and ran around the house. The jog seemed like a mile because the house was bigger than most typical homes. "There you are."

"Did you see him?"

"No, not yet." She approached him and grabbed his hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. "Let's find him."

Arthur took in a deep breath like a yoga instructor. "We have an hour."

They went through the backdoor to find themselves in the kitchen. She could feel a pulse in his palm and it was repeating frequently.

"Andre!" Arthur called. "Uncle Andre get over here!" he almost denied saying that.

"It's ok, I've got your back." She said. "What room is he usually in on a typical day?"

Arthur looked back on the times he was attacked. Ironically, they always happened when he was in the basement.

"Get off me!" A juvenile voice cried. "Let me go!"

That set Arthur off like a speed boost. The couple raced down to the basement to see two people: Uncle Andre and a young boy. Andre looked onto him proudly as the little boy cried into the floor.

"Get the kid." Arthur ordered. Ariadne rushed over to the boy's side. He couldn't have been any older than six. He was taken by surprised when Ariadne tried to pull him up.

Ariadne observed his face and looked at Arthur. They both had dark brown hair, narrow eyes and oval shaped face. He was wearing a private school uniform. "Get away from me!" The child snapped.

"I'm here to help you." She said. "I'm going to keep you safe, alright? You can trust me."

Arthur glared at Andre as his fists clenched together. Ariadne was back at his side with his younger-self in lifted in her arms.

"You abused me." He started as anger loaded up like a powerful bazooka. "You sexually abused me and then lied to my parents and my siblings about what's been going on here! You threatened to kill me if I told anyone!"

Ariadne looked onto Arthur satisfied for facing his fear.

"Kill him." She commanded. "As if you always wanted to."

"I have always wanted to." He said to her, his eyes still locked on Andre. "You tried to ruin my life and now you think you still can by killing my girlfriend and abusing a projection of myself when I was five! I waited for you too fucking die before I told her the truth!"

"It took you this long." Andre smirked. "Go on. Kill me. You've attempted to do it before and you failed. You'll run away like a scared little boy! You always have!"

"Not this time." Arthur brought out a handgun from his belt and counted to three in his head. Three shots torpedoed toward Andre. One hit his head, another hit his chest and the last one hit his crotch.

They both watched as Andre's projection fell to the floor. He suffered the way Ariadne had in the past two nightmares. To Arthur, it was pure joy to watch the bastard suffer.

"Your in Hell where you belong." Those were Arthur's final words to his fear.

They did it; they realized there was a big problem and they ran towards it. Most people would dash to a hiding place. Arthur and Ariadne were like a king and queen for their actions. When the king was attacked, it was the queen's job to help him fight in the battle. Without the queen, the king would have perished.

But without the attacks, the king wouldn't have been the powerful and valiant point man he was.

Now they could wake up and continue ruling their kingdom of reality.

"Let's go." He said.

"What about you?" She asked. "I mean little-you."

"He's a projection. When we die, he dies."

Ariadne put little Arthur down. "We have to go now."

"Thanks for killing him." Little Arthur praised. "I wanted to tell someone for a long time but was scared."

"I know. You should have exposed him." Arthur advised, taking his gun and giving it to Ariadne. "Ladies first."

Both their eyes opened to be back at home. Arthur turned his head to face hers. For moments, they were once again lost in each other's eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." He said. "Not without my queen." Arthur pushed the hanging strands of her mahogany hair behind her ear.

"I will always stand by you." She whispered. "How do you feel?"

The fear of sleeping again was a thing in the past. Arthur would forever be shaken by his past, but it would no longer haunt him in his sleep. From then on, he would resume sleeping through dreamless nights.

"Braver than ever." He said as a rare smile came upon his face.

"Wait, you could be braver?" She teased. Arthur brought her closer and kissed her lips for ten seconds.

"As noble a king is, he is no king without a queen." Arthur recited the metaphor that he learned from his recent experience. "So tell me, did you get the promotion?"

Ariadne grinned and nodded her head. "They were so shocked."

Arthur chuckled and brought her even closer. They remained tangled into each other for the rest of the day.

Until they submerged in their dreamless slumbers.


End file.
